Category Archives: MFOBlog

Greetings! I know I don’t blog much, but I figured it was time to poke my head in. I’ve been doing a few things on the internet lately, partly to promote Switchback, the second book in the Nightshades trilogy, and partly just for the fun of it. Here’s where you can find me: Audio: “Author Friendships” with Kameron Hurley, on the Get to Work Hurley podcast “Congo” on Craft Disservices, a podcast about bad movies “Last Action Hero,” also on Craft Disservices Columns “The Horror of the Suburbs” article on Tor.com “Melissa F. Olson Q&A” at Horror Lounge “Five Tools for the Journeyman … Continue reading

Folks, I am happy/sad to report that my 2017 convention schedule is officially over. First, it must be said that I love conventions. I love seeing my writer friends, I love meeting readers, I love discussing my favorite topics on panels, and if I’m being honest, I really love staying in hotels where I don’t have to clean up after myself. At the same time, conventions are exhausting and take me away from my writing and my family, so by the end of the season, I’m usually glad to be done– at least, for awhile. This year was a particularly … Continue reading

So I went to see The Mummy this morning. (Very mild spoilers ahead.) Yes, I’ve seen the reviews (19% on Rotten Tomatoes, which is worse than both Baywatch and the new Pirates of the Caribbean), and the trailers, and I am not an idiot. I fully expected it to be shit…but I still couldn’t not see it, because a) I love action/adventure movies, b) I often find bad movies fun, which is why I watch Deep Blue Sea every time it’s on television, and c) good or bad, The Mummy is urban fantasy writer catnip. Monsters, magic, new/old gods, Egyptian mythology, … Continue reading

If you follow SFF internet skirmishes at all, you may have heard about one making the rounds on social media beginning yesterday. Former Guest of Honor Monica Valentinelli announced that she is pulling out of this year’s Odyssey Con because of their insistence on placing her on panels with a known harasser, someone who she is explicitly uncomfortable with. (Many more details here.) To those of us in the niche SFF convention community, the topic of harassment at conventions comes up all too often. There is so much debate, vitriol, accusation, and defense. It can get exhausting, even on the … Continue reading

In honor of the release of my new novella, Nightshades, I’ve written a number of essays for a few different outlets. I’m participating in Tor.com’s ongoing series “That Was Awesome,” which is where writers discuss another author’s work; “Five Books About,” where I’ll be discussing five other books about government agencies that deal with the supernatural; and “And Related Subjects,” which is a (hopefully) funny piece about my quest to find a hobby in my thirties. I’ve also got a piece over at “Read it Forward,” which is about finding signature weapons for vampires. Below are the release dates for … Continue reading

During last night’s extremely fun Live AMA to celebrate Boundary Born (which you can still watch, by the way), I was asked about my book recommendations in the urban fantasy genre. I listed a few favorites off the top of my head, but I also promised to share a larger list here on the blog. This is me, sharing. What I would really love is for you to comment on this post with YOUR recommendations — I’ve definitely never pretended to know all the great UF books! Here are the urban fantasy series that I personally have read and recommend to … Continue reading

There are two reasons why I’ve been thinking about Jennifer Rardin lately. Before I ever began writing fiction, let alone urban fantasy, I read the first five installments in Rardin’s Jaz Park books. When you read as much as I do, details tend to blend together, but a couple of things always stuck in my mind about the Jaz books. For example, in Rardin’s books, vampires die during the day. Not sleep, not weaken but remain conscious. Die. Way back when I was doing the prep work for Dead Spots, I remembered that some authors have their vampires actually die, … Continue reading

I’m seeing so many men posting on Facebook and Twitter today, defending the decision to have a female lead for Rogue One. The posts begin with something like, “”I guess a bunch of guys are upset that the new Star Wars film stars a woman,” and then they go on to explain why that’s a dumb opinion. When this happened with the Ghostbusters remake, I kept my mouth shut, because I realized that all my male friends who were throwing support to the casting had truly good intentions. But now they’re all proclaiming the validity of Rogue One, and I … Continue reading

About a year and a half ago now, I published a blog for writers about how to build Twitter followers. There’s a lot in there that’s still applicable, so you should check it out, as I’m not going to summarize too much here. However, some things have changed in the last 18 months. Tweepi, the tool that I used to build my followers from 360-some to multiple thousands, has been effectively dismantled. Twitter asked Tweepi to stop allowing users like me to “flush” the people who don’t follow us back, and since that was the best thing about Tweepi, I no … Continue reading

As an urban fantasy author, one of the best parts of my job is traveling to SFF conventions, where I participate in panels, meet new and familiar readers, and hang out with fellow authors that I generally only see on the internet. I’ve been doing these conventions for years, but last year I did a personal-best SEVEN cons of 2016, including old favorites like CONvergence and Worldcon, and new favorites like Dragoncon and Anomalycon. Because of all these adventures, I think 2016 was the year that I really perfected an important aspect of con life: the con bag. I’ve got this thing boiled down … Continue reading